President, ex-defense minister clash

[Anchor]

In yesterday's (1.23) impeachment trial, President Yoon stated that the martial law proclamation had many legal aspects that could have been addressed.

But he said they were left untouched due to the lack of feasibility.

This part differed from the statement made by former Minister Kim Yong-hyun.

It seems this will be a major point of contention moving forward.

Reporter Lee Ho-jun has the details.

[Report]

Regarding the content of Proclamation No. 1, which prohibits National Assembly activities, President Yoon acknowledged that there could be legal issues but said he left it as is.

He believed that there was no actual possibility of enforcement.

[Yoon Suk Yeol, President/Jan. 23/4th trial date: "There are indeed many legal issues to consider regarding the proclamation, but in any case, martial law is difficult to maintain for more than a day."]

Regarding the phrase 'punishment of medical personnel' in the proclamation, he said he laughed and just left it as is.

[Yoon Suk Yeol, President: "This medical personnel, I asked while laughing, 'Why did you include this?', and he said 'This is also in the aspect of warning, so I just left it.' So I also laughed and left it…"]

However, former Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who wrote the draft of the proclamation, had a different view.

He stated that it was appropriate to actually enforce the proclamation.

[Kim Yong-hyun/Former Minister of National Defense & Jang Soon-wook/Representative of the National Assembly: "The president may have said that, but the relevant minister did not think so. (So you intended to enforce it?) I believe that is the right thing to do."]

This reveals a stance that contradicts President Yoon's remarks.

[Lim Ji-bong/Professor, Sogang University Law School: "What is important is not the intention behind reviewing and approving the proclamation, but whether the content of the issued proclamation is unconstitutional."]

When asked if President Yoon did not raise any issues after confirming the part of the proclamation that prohibits National Assembly activities, Kim replied, "There was no special mention."

KBS News, Lee Ho-jun.